The list of potential risks associated with artificial intelligence continues to grow. “Global AI adoption is outpacing risk understanding,” warns the MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), which has joined with the MIT multidisciplinary computer group FutureTech to compile the AI Risk Repository, a “living database” of more than 700 unique risks extracted across 43 source categories. Organized by cause, classifying “how, when and why these risks occur,” the repository is comprised of seven risk domains (for example, “misinformation”) and 23 subdomains (such as “false or misleading information”). Continue reading MIT’s AI Risk Assessment Database Debuts with 700 Threats

Airtable, a 10-year-old firm focused on customized apps, is launching Cobuilder, which uses AI to turn a concept into a customizable application “in seconds,” without the need for human coding. The debut adds to a rapidly expanding field of no-code platforms that help non-technical types develop software suitable for enterprise use. “Within the next five years, teams will build the vast majority of applications in-house, customizing them to transform their most critical workflows,” predicts Airtable co-founder and CEO Howie Liu. “To get there, knowledge workers who are closest to the work need to be empowered to build.” Continue reading Airtable Enters No-Code Enterprise App Space with Cobuilder

Nvidia and French startup Mistral AI are jointly releasing a new language model called Mistral NeMo 12B that brings enterprise AI capabilities to the desktop without the need for major cloud resources. Developers can easily customize and deploy the new LLM for applications supporting chatbots, multilingual tasks, coding and summarization, according to Nvidia. “NeMo 12B offers a large context window of up to 128k tokens,” explains Mistral, adding that “its reasoning, world knowledge, and coding accuracy are state-of-the-art in its size category.” Available under the Apache 2.0 license, it is easy to implement as a drop-in replacement for Mistral 7B. Continue reading Mistral, Nvidia Bring Enterprise AI to Desktop with NeMo 12B

A consortium of top tech firms have joined forces to launch a security group focused on artificial intelligence applications. The cybersecurity-focused non-profit OASIS will oversee operational aspects of the Coalition for Secure AI, to be known as CoSAI, described as an “open-source community.” OASIS lists Google, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia and PayPal as founding Premier Sponsors of CoSAI, whose “additional founding sponsors” include Amazon, Anthropic, Cisco, Chainguard, Cohere, GenLab, OpenAI and Wiz. “CoSAI is an initiative to enhance trust and security in AI use and deployment,” OASIS announced at the Aspen Security Forum. Continue reading Google, OpenAI, Nvidia and Others Form AI Security Coalition

Amazon announced the public preview launch of its GenAI-powered App Studio service. The platform — which is geared toward professionals who lack extensive software development skills — builds full-featured, enterprise-level apps using natural language prompts. Users simply describe what they would like the app to accomplish and the data sources available to it and App Studio will produce in minutes what the company claims, “could have taken a professional developer days to build from scratch.” The announcement was made during this week’s AWS Summit in New York City. Continue reading AWS Releases GenAI-Powered App Studio in Public Preview

China’s ByteDance has come out swinging in petition for review against the United States government over the law that would force it to sell TikTok by January 19 or see the app banned in U.S. app stores. The petition challenges the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act that President Biden signed into law on April 24, calling it in the brief “a radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet, and sets a dangerous precedent allowing the political branches to target a disfavored speech platform.” Oral argument is scheduled for September 14. Continue reading ByteDance Opening Brief Claims U.S. Ban is Unconstitutional

Amazon has earmarked $230 million to invest in generative AI startups worldwide, providing funding in the form of “AWS credits, mentorship, and education to further their use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.” The initiative will cast a global net, focusing on early-stage companies. About $80 million of that allocation will fund the second cohort of the AWS Generative AI Accelerator, which provides up to $1 million in credits “to each of the top 80 early-stage startups that are using generative AI to solve complex challenges.” Applications for the AWS Accelerator are open through July 19. Continue reading Amazon Commits $230M in AWS Credits for GenAI Startups

OpenAI has begun training a new flagship artificial intelligence model to succeed GPT-4, the technology currently associated with ChatGPT. The new model — which some are already calling GPT-5, although OpenAI hasn’t yet shared its name — is expected to take the company’s compute to the next level as it works toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), intelligence equal to or surpassing human cognitive abilities. The company also announced it has formed a new Safety and Security Committee two weeks after dissolving the old one upon the departure of OpenAI co-founder and Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever. Continue reading OpenAI Is Working on New Frontier Model to Succeed GPT-4

The Google Home API has been opened to developers that want to use the smart home devices and automations in apps. “Building on the foundation of Matter, we’ve re-envisioned Google Home as a platform for developers — all developers, not just those that build smart home devices,” the company announced at Google I/O. The new APIs provide access to over 600 million devices with a single integration and create the possibility for Google TVs to serve as smart home hubs. Google’s established partners have access to the Home APIs, and the company is now waitlisting other interested developers. Among the first partners are ADT and Eve. Continue reading Google Reimagines Home as Platform for All App Developers

Short-form video hosting service TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance have filed suit against the United States challenging the constitutionality of the law that seeks to force a sale of the popular social media company, or otherwise ban it from use in the United States. The petition seeks to upend the bill President Biden signed into law April 24 as part of a foreign aid package. TikTok faces a ban from U.S. app stores if ByteDance has not been sold to a non-adversarial entity by mid-January 2025. ByteDance has made clear it has no intention of divesting. Continue reading ByteDance Files Suit Against the U.S. Over TikTok Sale or Ban

Google introduced Threat Intelligence at the RSA Conference in San Francisco this week. Claiming actionable information at “visibility only Google can deliver, based on billions of signals across devices and emails,” Threat Intelligence draws on the capabilities of the company’s Gemini LLMs, Mandiant cybersecurity arm, and cloud-based VirusTotal tool. An AI-powered Gemini agent “provides conversational search” across the repository of Threat Intelligence, “enabling customers to gain insights and protect themselves from threats faster than ever before,” Google says in a move to empower even small teams without IT departments with threat protection. Continue reading Google Taps AI for Its ‘Threat Intelligence’ Cybersecurity Plan

The Biden Administration has opened a call for applications for $285 million in funding for a national research institute that will develop semiconductor “digital twins,” software representations of semiconductor hardware that live in the cloud, where teams can collaborate remotely to design, test and analyze the components, allowing engineers to discover and address problems before the manufacturing process begins. The CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute will be the hub for companies and organizations advancing this work, which is meant to decrease domestic reliance on foreign-sourced chips as a matter of national security. Continue reading Government Commits $285 Million for ‘Digital Twin’ Research

Responding to a government assessment of recent cyberattacks, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella issued a company-wide memo prioritizing security. “If you’re faced with the tradeoff between security and another priority, your answer is clear: Do security,” the executive wrote. “In some cases, this will mean prioritizing security above other things we do, such as releasing new features or providing ongoing support for legacy systems,” Nadella added. The escalation sees Microsoft expanding the scope of its Secure Future Initiative based on government recommendations and insights gained from breaches linked to state-sponsored Russian hackers. Continue reading Microsoft Doubles Down on Security Following Cyberattacks

The Federal Communications Commission voted to reinstate net neutrality rules on Thursday, returning to the Obama-era approach of establishing a level playing field for online platforms, regardless of size. The commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecommunications service, the equivalent of a public utility, which means it can be regulated like power and water. However, the FCC qualified that while it would be treating the Internet as an essential service, it will exercise its authority “in a narrowly tailored fashion.” Continue reading Internet Regulation: FCC Votes to Restore Net Neutrality Rules

The Senate and House Commerce Committee chairs have jointly released a bipartisan bill that seeks to protect the personal online data of U.S. citizens. The American Privacy Rights Act aims to set “clear, national data privacy rights and protections for Americans” and establishes a way individuals can sue entities that violate its provisions. The proposed law represents a years-long effort by Congress to establish data privacy regulations. If it passes, it will preempt the various data privacy laws enacted by states including California, Colorado, Connecticut and Tennessee. Continue reading Congress Moves Bicameral Data Privacy Bill to Protect Public